


Flowers and Remedies for The Heart

by RosenMae



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, I haven't slept, I think that's it - Freeform, M/M, My shortest fic ever, Oblivious Oikawa Tooru, Soft Boys, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Volleyball, brief hospital visit, definitely not beta, good communication solves everything, hajime has a crush, hajime loves tooru, he's going to have to admit it, suga is briefly there, sugas dad is more than briefly there, tagging is hard, thanks bye, this took me two days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24624487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosenMae/pseuds/RosenMae
Summary: Hajime is about to turn 18, he's about to get his soulmark. His best friend is more excited about it than he is, but that's normal. Hajime has bigger concerns- like his feelings for his best friend, and deciding which college to go to. But his birthday comes anyway, his soulmark appears on his skin, and he gets a little more than he bargained for when flowers start coming out of his throat.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 202





	Flowers and Remedies for The Heart

Iwaizumi was too preoccupied in the weeks building up to his birthday that he almost forgot.

"Iwa-chan! How could you forget? It's the most important birthday you'll ever have!" His best friend his whole life lamented as he fell dramatically over Iwaizumi's shoulders.

"You're so dramatic, it's not that big of a deal." Iwaizumi protested, he should have protested their position since he was now holding most of the setter's weight, but he didn't. Oikawa had always been dramatic, batting his pretty eyes at anything that would pay him attention, his reckless persistence got him anything his natural charm and abilities did not and it worked for him. He was two months away from moving to the university of his choice, full scholarship with volleyball. Hajime turned his attention back to the court in front of them, they'd graduated a few weeks ago and been here almost every day since- most of their former team right beside them, trying to hold onto these last days that they'd all be together. The team had long since left, Hajime and Tooru carrying on a long standing tradition to keep practicing after everyone else was sensibly at home. They needed to clean up.

"You really aren't excited to know who you're soulmate is?"

Hajime looked at Oikawa thoughtfully, checking for any sign of strain in his face or his body, a habit he'd never been able to drop even though Oikawa had learned how to take care of himself long ago. There was something in Oikawa's eyes today that made Hajime know that they were done for the day. So he went to get the ball cart with a sigh. Oikawa wordlessly fell in beside him to start the familiar routine of cleaning the gym.

"Well, getting a soul mark doesn't mean I'll know who it is automatically, the marks aren't always clear, and maybe I won't know them yet, so it's not that big of a deal, right?"

"Wrong, Iwa-chan! This is the first step of your forever! That's a very big deal." Oikawa declared, flicking his hair to the side like he did whenever he thought he won an argument. "Should I stay over tonight so you stay up to check?"

"Why do I have to stay up to check it at all? It'll still be there in the morning."

"Why are you like this? You're too young to be this grumpy!" Oikawa protested and Hajime smiled despite himself.

"Besides, don't you have that entrance essay to finish?"

"It's a formality, they already offered me my spot on the team and the university."

"Right, that's why you've been obsessing over the topic to use and which essay style to write in for the last two weeks."

"Oikawa-san takes all things seriously." Oikawa intoned in that imperious tone that he knew Hajime hated and received a volleyball to the back of the head for his trouble. "Rude!"

Hajime didn't mean to start laughing, the affronted look on his best friends face was nothing new, but it bubbled up something warm in his chest, a longing for these days to keep stretching and keep being the same for as long as they could. He looked over the gym one last time before flicking off the lights, a few more weeks and they wouldn't have this anymore.

Oikawa smacked him hard on the shoulder as he walked past and headed for the locker room, it felt weirdly final this time. Hajime shook his head of the nostalgia and finished locking up to follow after Oikawa. Maybe it was because it was his last time before he'd be an adult. Tomorrow he'd spend the morning packing for university (even though he hadn't actually picked which one he'd be going to) then he'd walk into the gym same as today just bearing a soul mark. Nothing would be different.

"Okay, so seriously. You're not excited at all?" Oikawa asks as they're finishing changing. They're lucky that their coach let them keep their lockers and the key for the summer even though they aren't students anymore, it'll make all the difference that they didn't have to take a day off before they step into the courts at university.

"I didn't say that." Hajime admits lightly.

"I knew it! Is there someone you're hoping it will be?"

Hajime locks the door behind them and hands the keys over to Oikawa without even realizing he's following the routine. They turn and walk home as Hajime watches his friend from the corner of his eye. His best friend. His setter, his captain. They've been together forever. Been through everything together. Looking at him like this, the last rays of sun mixing with the dim streetlights just flickering to life, he's beautiful. His eyes never stray from the sky in front of them, like he's looking at the stars that no one else can even see. In moments like this, Hajime is reminded of a story that he never remembers learning, he just knows, about a boy who fell in love with the sun.

"Huh? Iwa-chan?" Oikawa asks and Hajime clears his throat tearing his eyes away, he'd been waiting for an answer and had caught Hajime staring.

"Sorry, what?"

"Is there someone you hope your soul mark will be for?"

"I don't know. The majority of people never meet their soulmates anyway, right? So it doesn't matter."

"Ugh, Iwa-chan, you're not a romantic at all! It's boring!"

"Why? You have someone you're hoping your mark will be for?" Oikawa stiffens at the question and then raises his nose.

"Maybe." He says defensively and Hajime's stomach drops a little, it's a feeling he's more than familiar with, every girlfriend Oikawa takes home with him, every laugh he gives out to his fans, and Hajime is right back here with the world's crappiest case of indigestion.

When they were kids the story of the man who fell in love with the sun reminded Hajime of the dust on butterfly wings. He cried when Tooru had grabbed a butterfly the wrong way.

~  
"You're hurting it! The wings, let it go!" Even at 7 years old, Tooru knew better than to not listen to Hajime's voice when it sounded like that, so he released the insect immediately, the two boys watching it fly away.

"What? But I caught it like you catch beetles!"

"Stupid! Butterflies can't be caught like that! You can't hold on to them, if the dust on their wings gets rubbed off, they can't fly anymore."

"I didn't know. They're just so pretty that I wanted to-"

"That's why. They're too pretty to touch. If you touch them, they can't fly anymore." Little Tooru with his big brown eyes had looked like he was going to cry so Hajime had plucked up a handful of wildflowers and roughly handed them to him. "Here, these are for you instead, so don't cry."  
~

Hajime had thought then that he'd known every important thing in the world. He never knew just how true those words about a delicate butterfly would become as he sat on the grass, holding Tooru's hands, and staring into those big brown eyes of his. Those brown eyes are looking at him again now, brow furrowed.

"You're acting weird, Iwa-chan! Maybe you care more about this than you thought and you just needed me to open your eyes, huh?"

Hajime smacked his friend in the head lightly, ignoring his protests.

"Whatever you say, crappykawa."

"You sure you don't want me to come over tonight? It is your birthday after all."

"Nah, finish your essay. But..." he hesitates only a moment, "You can call me. I'll stay up. And I know you want to be the first one to know what it is."

"Yes!! You know me so well! I'll call you, and that way you won't sleep through it like an old man!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you later." Hajime promises as he leaves Oikawa at his door and turns to head down the street to his own home.

"Hajime!" Hajime is startled by his first name and turns just in time to get a chest full of Oikawa pressed against him. He returns the hug instantly, letting the setter squeeze him until it almost hurts his lungs. "Happy birthday!" Oikawa says as he steps back with a smile. Hajime's lungs still burn as they each take a step back.

"Thanks!" He says with a laugh.

"I'll call you later!"

"Alright, see you." They share a pointless little wave as they laugh at themselves and Hajime turns away.

At 11:55 Hajime is too wound up, his chest feels heavy, possibilities running through his head despite himself. Oikawa's words, "this is the first step to your forever!" Echo in his head. It suddenly seems like a lot of pressure. He rubs at his chest, it's getting harder to breathe.

At 11:59 Hajime stands up, needing to move, his chest hurts, he's definitely not breathing now.  
Then suddenly, he's glowing, the heaviness in his chest erupts into light that moves down his right wrist and starts sparking and whirling and it burns, is it supposed to burn? Hajime falls back on his futon heavily as he blinks his eyes at the bright light coming from his own skin. When it's done there's ink all across his arm from wrist to elbow. It's a lot bigger than soul marks usually are. When he realizes what he's looking at he suddenly feels sick. 

There are sharp silver lines wrapped around his arm, perfectly aligned into the plate mail of a knight, bright pops of colour in the form of a row of tiny butterflies dance along his forearm with a back drop of a bright galaxy behind them, and at his wrist is an artful rendering of bright light coming from Hajime's palm, as if he were reaching for the sun.

It couldn't be clearer of Hajime just had a name instead stamping on his skin that his soulmate was none other than Oikawa Tooru.

He's definitely not breathing- which is the first thing he realizes before he's scrambling to his wastebasket and coughing until he throws up. When he opens his eyes his stomach drops further. It had felt like he'd thrown up a lung, but instead there are only a handful of little flower petals with blood on them.

Hajime picks one up gently, blood smearing beneath his fingers. As far as he knows Hanahaki shouldn't make someone bleed like this, he doesn't think so anyway.

At 12:01 his phone rings. He doesn't answer.

His mom teaches special needs kids, so she can't call off work on short notice, so Hajime's dad takes him to the hospital first thing the next morning.

The doctor gets a look in his eyes that tell Hajime the verdict before his mouth does, his eyes turn old and weary worn and regretful.

"Hanahaki. The timing though and the presence of blood... looks like your feelings are for your soulmate."

"Okay. What does that mean?"

"I won't beat around the bush. This form of Hanahaki is fatal unless your feelings are requited."

"They aren't." Hajime says, certainty in his voice.

"Have you asked?"

"No."

The doctor sighs.

"Why is it fatal? Can't the operation..." Hajime's dads voice shakes and Hajime can't look at him.

"The operation for regular Hanahaki is 99% successful but it comes with the side effect that it removes from your heart the person your feelings are for. But soulmates are different. Instead of taking out a piece of your heart, it's like taking out a piece of your soul. It's not common, but the few times the surgery has been done it's either killed the patient or left them with enough damage that they died soon after. I'm sorry, but that's not an option."  
Hajime sucked in a breath, trying to get enough breath around the flowers in his lungs. "The only way to survive this is to have your feelings returned."

It's as good as a death sentence.

"How long do I have?"

The doctor frowned at the x-rays. "The plant is relatively young still. Typically, the growth of the plant will stay the same unless your feelings are returned or rejected. Because this is your soulmate, the plant is basically turning to poison. The rate might increase a little when you're around your soulmate, but it shouldn't be too much. I'd say... three weeks is your most accurate estimate."

Hajime's dad sobs and Hajime looks at his arm, his soul mark, his palm that is lighter now because it's part of the mark as if he'd tried to hold sunlight in his hand. He swallows roughly.

"What happens if I confess and am rejected?"

"It'll kill you." This doctor tells him straight and Hajime appreciates that. "Probably not immediately, but the poison in your system right now is still not poisonous enough to kill you. But if you get rejected, that will change."  
Hajime nods, tears escaping down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry." The doctor says sincerely. "There are some support groups you could visit. Some for your parents as well. And I'm giving you my personal number. If you need anything, or if anything changes please call. In the meantime, stay hydrated, and get rest, this is a difficult process on your body as I'm sure you can imagine." He writes down the information clearly and hands the paper to Hajime who takes it with his lightened hand. He looks at the paper and recognizes the name at the top.

"Dr. Sugawara-san. Does your son go to karasuno?"

"Yeah, he does." The doctor says, surprised. 

"We played them in volleyball. They were a good team." Hajime says and the doctor nods, still looking concerned. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry I can't do more." The doctor says and Hajime's dad brushes the tears off his face to thank the doctor and they go home.

"Who is it?" Hajime's dad asks on the way home. Hajime doesn't answer.

"I'll handle telling your mom when she gets home, you should rest for now."

"Thanks Dad. I love you."

"I-" tears build back in the man's eyes, this is more than Hajime has ever seen him cry. "I love you too."  
Hajime goes upstairs and plops on his futon. He lays there and let's the tears slide down his cheeks for a few minutes before he rummages around to find his phone. He has a dozen notifications about his birthday and a dozen more from Oikawa.

Trashykawa: 4 missed calls. 11 missed messages.

From: Trashykawa--12:01am: missed call  
From: Trashykawa--12:03am: I can't believe you actually fell asleep! You're such an old man!  
From: Trashykawa--12:04am: Call me in the morning!!!  
From: Trashykawa--8:08am: Happy Birthday! Are you up yet?  
From: Trashykawa--8:26am: missed call  
From: Trashykawa--8:30am: sleeping in on your birthday is allowed but boring  
From: Trashykawa--8:56am: Iwa-chaaaaaaaan   
From: Trashykawa--9:30am: missed call  
From: Trashykawa--9:38am: Iwa-chan, are you ok? You never sleep in this late  
From: Trashykawa--10:48am: I went by your house and no one answered  
From: Trashykawa--10:48am: whats going on  
From: Trashykawa--10:52am: missed call  
From: Trashykawa--10:53am: Call me back  
From: Trashykawa--10:53am: Please  
From: Trashykawa--11:48am: Hajime 

This last message was 5 minutes ago. Hajime rests his finger over the call button for a moment before his lungs seize up and he's coughing up petals for a minute. His head swims a little at the force of it and he flops weakly back onto his futon. Finally he's able to open his messaging app.

From: Iwa-chan!!!--11:56am: hey, sorry, went to the doctor this morning  
He gets a reply immediately

From: Trashykawa--11:56am: Doctor?

From: Iwa-chan!!!--11:59am: Im sick.

The phone rings. 

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa's voice rings out and the sound of it sends Hajime diving for his wastebasket again. He coughs and vomits more flower petals and blood before sitting back, lungs heaving, trying to catch his breath. "Iwa-chan." Oikawa repeats through the phone, his voice quite and concerned.

"Hey, sorry." Hajime's voice grinds out roughly.

"You're really sick, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Do you need anything? I can come over." Oikawa offers and warmth combined with pain ripple through Hajime's chest. 

"I'm fine, dad's here, so."

"Your dad stayed home from work?" He's surprised, more that Hajime would let them take time off than the fact that they did probably.

"He took me to the doctor." Hajime reminds him, trying to downplay it all.

"Right. What did the doctor say?"

That you're killing me. That I have maybe three weeks left to live.

"Rest and plenty of fluids." Hajime reports instead.

"Psh. That's such a boring answer. No medicine or anything?"

"No." He coughs some more but doesn't throw up even though he has to swallow back the taste of blood in his mouth.

"You sound terrible." Oikawa reports.

"Thanks." Hajime replies dryly.

"Seriously, rest up! We've still got a few months of practice before university, and it's no fun when you aren't there."

Hajime does not unpack that statement. "Okay. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything, Oikawa-san is a great caregiver!"

"Sure, sure." Hajime rolls his eyes.

"Rest well!" Oikawa cheers and then he hangs up, though it isn't long before the phone dings again.

From: Trashykawa-- 12:20pm: Ah, I forgot to ask about your soul mark!

From: Iwa-chan!!!--12:25pm: Im resting

From: Trashykawa--12:26pm: Just send me a pic

From: Iwa-chan!!!--12:26pm: No

From: Trashykawa--12:28pm: Please???

From: Iwa-chan!!!--12:28pm: no.

From: Trashykawa--12:34pm: Do you at least know who it's for?

From: Iwa-chan!!!--12:48pm: Im still thinking about it.

From: Trashykawa--12:49pm: Hmph! I wanna knooooow!  
From: Trashykawa--12:49pm: don make me come over there!

From: Iwa-chan!!!--12:50pm: Im sick

From: Trashykawa--12:52pm: sigh  
From: Trashykawa--12:52pm: Gotta go to practice! Bye! Feel better!

Hajime put his phone down and wiped more blood from his mouth. This was exhausting already.

Hajime surprised himself by being able to fall back asleep and sleeping through most of the day.

He heard it when his mom came home, listening to the sounds of voices too quiet to make out the words, and then the long silence that followed. When his mom finally did come upstairs it was with a water bottle and a box of tissues. She didn't cry. She'd always been the strongest one in the house.

She sat next to Hajime where he'd moved from his futon to the low table in the center of the room. For the past month the desk had held his three college acceptance letters, and today was no different. His mom picked one of the letters up and turned it around in her hands gently.

"Hey kiddo."

"Hey Ma."

"Been a rough birthday, huh?"

He swallowed back some tears and nodded and when she cradled him in her arms he let himself cry in earnest. They cried together, holding each other for a while until it was just the occasional sniffle shared between them. Still she held her son like she had since he was born, sure and secure against his mothers chest. She trailed her fingers over his new soul mark gently, and he let her turn his arm this way and that until she'd seen it all.

"It's Tooru-kun, isn't it?" She asked like she already knew and he nodded.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know."

"Hmmm. I don't think he'd reject you, you know. Once you explained it-"

"It doesn't work like that, mom. You can't make somebody love you, even if they want to. If he doesn't love me back, if he rejects me, it'll kill me. And I don't know if I can do that to him."

"It'll kill you anyway."

"I know." He whispers.

"Think about it."

"I am."

"Okay. Do you want to watch a movie?"

Over the next few days, nothing much changes. His parents buy a roll of garbage bags that are small and black, because he doesn't want to be cooped in the house for the next three weeks, but the coughing and vomiting can happen at any moment, so he takes the bags with him so he can hide the evidence of his condition. Neither of his parents take the time off work, because Hajime insists that he wants this to be as normal as possible. They spend all of the evenings together.

Hajime doesn't go to practice and he doesn't go to see Tooru. Not yet.

But he does call Dr. Sugawara.

"Sorry to call you after hours."

"It's okay Iwaizumi-kun. How are you feeling?"

"The same. But I had a couple questions."

"Okay, shoot."

"Can you get Hanahaki if the person you love is dead?"

"Do you think your soul mate is dead?"

"No, I just..."

"You want to know if your soul mate can retroactively get it after you pass?"

"Yeah. He's exactly the kind of idiot that would fall in love too late."

"Hmmm... it's a bit of a unique case. Normally, in cases like this, the other person either is in love with the other person or they never develop feelings for the one with Hanahaki. Mostly when people die of this type of Hanahaki, it's because their soulmate has utterly rejected them, not just as a lover but as a soulmate entirely, so they never have those feelings."

"So, you don't know." Hajime sighs

"No, I don't. I'm sorry. I don't believe that it has ever happened in the way you're asking, so I don't know if it's possible. Does this mean that you've decided not to tell him?"

"I haven't decided."

"To be honest, Iwaizumi-kun, I think that you have to tell him. It's your only viable option for survival."

"But if he can't love me, it'll kill me. And I think that that will kill him. Not because of Hanahaki or whatever. But because of the guilt. He takes on too much responsibility for the things around him, even when he has no control-" suddenly Hajime has to stop, his lungs filling with petals, and he chokes and coughs until he can breathe again.

There's a sigh on the other end of the phone. "You really love him, but you need to think of yourself too. What if he has the power to save you and he can't because you don't let him? He'll still bear the weight of that."

"But he'll never know that it's his fault." Hajime reasons.

"Is he younger than you? Doesn't have his soul mark yet?"

"No, he doesn't."

"And what do you think will happen when he gets a soul mark for you and he realizes the truth of what happened? It'll probably be worse on him that he never had the chance to try to save you while he could."  
Hajime thinks about this. It's pretty true actually.

"Maybe." He admits.

"When you saw your soul mark was there any doubt in your mind who it was for?"

"No."

"Then he'll think the same when he gets his. That's how it works. And you said 'if he can't love me' not if he won't. I think that's already pretty telling about how this could turn out. You need to tell him, so you'll have no regrets if nothing else."

"You're probably right." Hajime finally concedes.

"Come into the hospital tomorrow, we'll check on the progress of the plant again, and I can give you a more accurate timeline. Then you can know how long you have before you have to tell him, yeah?"

"Yeah, that would be good. Thank you Sugawara-san."

From: Trashykawa--4:08pm: Iwa-chaaaaaaaan   
From: Trashykawa--4:08pm: It's boring when you're not here  
From: Trashykawa--4:08pm: I'm going to come over tomorrow

From: Iwa-chan!!!--4:10pm: Im going to the doctor tomorrow

From: Trashykawa--4:11pm: Again?

From: Iwa-chan!!!--4:11pm: Yeah.

His phone rings.

"How sick are you, really?" Oikawa asks immediately.

"I don't know. That's why I'm going to the doctor."

"Twice in one week. That's not normal. What's going on?"

Hajime sighs, his lungs cramping at the very thought of telling Tooru the truth now. He coughs. "I'm just sick."

"You don't get sick though. Even when we were kids, you got sick like two times!"

"That's not true."

"It is true!" Oikawa whines, Hajime can practically feel him stomping his foot petulantly.

"Well, maybe this is just all those other times I didn't get sick coming back to bite my ass all at once."

"Iwa-chan."

Hajime waits, but it doesn't seem like there is a follow up to that. "I'll call you after my appointment tomorrow, okay?"

Dr. Sugawara tells him that he has about a week before he'll be suffocating on flowers. It's weirdly reassuring to have a date. And he decides that he'll tell Oikawa a day or two before it's too late. He has to, he's the one who always says to face a challenge face first. But it also wouldn't be fair to his parents to do it now. Hajime has a week left to live, he's not going to needlessly shorten that time.

He calls Oikawa as soon as he's back home.

"Hey, what did the doctor say?"

"I'm not contagious." It's a carefully planned lie that Hajime delivers with confidence.

"That's... good?"

"Still puking all the time and stuff, but, it's not like anyone else can get sick from this, so I'm coming to practice tomorrow."

"You sure?" Oikawa sounds incredibly doubtful and Hajime would laugh if he couldn't already feel the pressure building up in his chest.

"I want to be there. It's better than being holed up in the house all the time."

"But you should rest!"

"The doctor said that it shouldn't really get worse whether I'm up or not. Might as well do something, and I miss you guys."

"Aw, Iwa-chan! You could have just said that you want to be close to me!"

Hajime choked. He managed to choke out a goodbye before he hung up and spent the next five minutes with his head in the toilet.

Hajime spends the rest of the night staring at his college applications. The response is due three days after his life expectancy is up, it's been a decision he didn't want to make for the last six months. The programs are good and the volleyball is good at all of the colleges that accepted him. The real deciding factor has always been Oikawa. If he wanted to try his hand at life without his best friend or not. But now his skin is marked up for that same best friend, and bloody petals in his throat, and he's found his answer. Oikawa said that the soul mark was the first step of his forever, and Hajime had found his forever in the heart of his best friend whether or not his feelings can be returned.

He sends off his reply to Chuo in the morning, it's where Oikawa is going. The volleyball there is the best, if he goes there he might never even get to play, because it's where the best players will be going. It was something he was worried about but now he can't even imagine being apart from Tooru if he gets the choice. In a week it won't matter, but today it does. 

He gets dressed, puts his throw-up-bags in his pocket and walks down to the gym. He pokes his head into the gym, knowing what his body's reaction to seeing Oikawa again will be. And sure enough, the moment that their eyes meet Hajime is ducking back out of the gym to puke his guts out and gasp for air.

"Iwa-chan." Oikawa's voice warbles like he might cry and Hajime shakes his head making sure that the little black bag is tied off and there's no blood on him before he turns around.

Oikawa is standing in the doorway of the gym in his volleyball clothes, hair perfect, strong lines of his body prominently displayed even as he's hunched over and has one hand half reaching out to Hajime. His face is twisted like he really might cry, and Hajime thinks he looks beautiful. Warmth and affection spread through his chest, just igniting another wave of pain. He chokes and coughs and presses a hand over his mouth to make sure it stays down, begging his body, not here, not now, he can't know yet.

When the coughing fit finally dissolves he takes big heaving breaths back into his battered lungs and looks back at Oikawa who looks physically pained by the state Hajime is in.

"You're clearly too sick to be here, what are you doing?!"

"I'm fine." Hajime waves off, it's definitely not convincing because he's having trouble breathing and he's shaking and his eyes are maybe a little unfocused.

"You're not fine!" Oikawa finally steps out of the gym, crossing the small bit of grass to stand right in front of Hajime. His face is a cross between annoyed and concerned, and Hajime tears his eyes away before he can start thinking of his feelings again and set himself off again. He turns to shove his bag of flower vomit into the nearest trash can.

"Seriously-"

"I'm fine." Hajime repeats. "It's not contagious." He defends, then his shoulders slump. "I'd really like to stay, if that's okay."

Oikawa stares at him for a long moment. "Fine. If the coaches say it's okay."

Hajime nods and they turn to walk back into the gym together.

Hajime waves to his former teammates who all call out greetings and late happy birthday wishes and heckling about missing the last week. He goes straight to the coaches.

"Iwaizumi." The coach greets without looking at him as practice starts back up after the interruption.

"Hey coach."

"You been sick?"

"Still am sick. Might throw up a few times while I'm here. It's not contagious though, so I'd like to stay." The coach finally takes his eyes off the court to look at him.

"What's the doctor say it is?"

Hajime looks down at the ground and then glances back at the practice which is already back in full swing, no one is paying any attention and they're too far away to listen in anyway.

"Hanahaki." He says quietly and the coach and vice coach both suck in a breath and turn to him.

"The surgery?"

Hajime shakes his head, looking down at the floor. "It's my soulmate so they can't remove it."

"Shit." The Coach says quietly, "Hajime-"

"I have a week left." He informs them, finally looking back up at them. "I'll tell my soulmate when the week is almost over. But if this is the last week I have..."

A large hand clasps on Hajime's shoulder, the coach gripping his shoulder tightly. The vice coach has his hands over his mouth, and the coach smacks him. "Don't make a scene." Coach chides lightly, glancing over at the court before looking back at Hajime, who is definitely too scared to look and see if anyone noticed their reactions. Oikawa probably did. The thought makes him cough lightly into his hand. Coaches hand tightens before he let's go.

"You can stay as long as you like."

"Can I play?" Hajime hears himself ask and coach thinks about it. "It could be-" he chokes a little, "it could be the last time. I know it'll probably be a disaster, but I'd like to play again, one last time, with everyone."  
Vice coach turns away, tears in his eyes. But the coach nods.

"One set only. I don't want to make it worse by making your lungs have to work too hard."

"Yes sir."

"Do you think you could do it today?"

Hajime thinks about it, he does have his stuff in his gym locker, but. "Maybe tomorrow would be better, try to let my body have a chance to get used to being here again first."

"Alright then, go sit on the bench." Hajime agrees again. He would agree to almost anything to be able to play with Oikawa one more time. He hesitates before he turns away though.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone, I'll tell them, I just..."

"Of course." They agree easily and Hajime nods and takes up his position. The court is still in motion, practice running smoothly, but Oikawa catches Hajime's eyes, his eyes darting to the coaches and back to him with a concerned questioning look on his face. Hajime just shakes his head and watches as Oikawa bites his lip before focusing back on the game still going on around him.

The first time Oikawa does one of his jump serves, Hajime throws up so hard he has tears running down his face when he wipes his lips of any blood left over. Oikawa is standing on the serving line looking at Hajime with that same about-to-cry face and Hajime just waves off all of the concerned looks turning his way. 

"Nice serve, Oikawa." He calls out even though his voice rakes across his throat.

Watching Oikawa from the bench is hard, his heart and his lungs seem to seize up every time he does any of the techniques they've worked on together- which is almost all of them. Hajime throws up three more times during the practice, each time using one of the black bags and tying the mess away neatly. It's definitely more times than what has become normal the last few days, but he figures that that's probably normal since he willingly put himself close to the person who is literally killing him, as if he would have ever been able to keep himself away.

"Iwa-chan, if you wait I can walk you home." Oikawa offers after practice is over, he's not even trying to stay late after everyone else, he's just staring down at Hajime with a concerned furrow in his eyebrows.

"Sure." He manages to say before he burst into a coughing fit. After it's over he looks up to see Oikawa biting his lip with worry.

"I'll go get changed now and leave the key with Shigeru. I'll be right back." He promises and jogs away.  
Hajime gets up and bows to the coaches before going to wait outside. He sits on the steps of the locker room to wait, pulling a petal out of his pocket where he shoved it after it made an appearance while he was coughing once. It's long and thin, there are a few different types that Hajime has noticed, but this one is from a pink camellia, it means longing (Hajime knows because he's had an abrupt interest in flowers and their meaning the last few days), he wipes the blood off of it and spins it a few times between his fingers with a sigh.

"You ready, Iwa-chan?"

Hajime looks up in surprise, this has to be the fastest Oikawa has ever changed, but he pulls himself to his feet a little unsteady at first. He shoves the petal back into his pocket and starts away from the school with Oikawa right at his side.

They walk in silence for a few minutes, Hajime only coughing once.

"You want to get ice cream?" He asks finally, eyes on the street in front of them and not at all on the boy beside him.

"Are you sure you're feeling up to it?"

"Yeah, I'd like to." He reassures and Oikawa nods hesitantly. They change directions to head to the nearest ice cream parlour, it's a place they spent a lot of time as kids, so it's easy as breathing to correct their path to include it.

"How have you been?" Oikawa finally asks, a little hesitantly, just to speak it seems but Hajime jumps at the chance for conversation anyway.

"Fine. Practice seems like it's been going well."

"Yeah, my spikes have improved!"

"How's your knee?" Hajime says, and has to stop when a coughing fit makes him double over and gag a few times. He shakes Oikawa off when he tries to help, and straightens up cautiously, tucking more petals into his pocket from where he'd coughed them into his hand. He takes wet wipes out of his bag and wipes his hands off, shoving the wipe into his pocket with the petals when he's done.

"Your knee?" He asks again as he starts walking again, and Oikawa makes a little aborted attempt at saying something, maybe a protest, before he falls back in beside him.

"It's been fine, I've been icing it like normal and using the cream the doctor gave me, I think that's been helping a lot."

"That's good."

They fall back into an uneasy silence until they make it to the ice cream parlour. Oikawa goes inside to order for them while Hajime throws up in one of his bags again, making sure to throw out the petals from his pocket as well when he shoves it all into the trashcan outside of the little shop. He catches up with Oikawa as he's paying and they go sit at the table in the corner since it's almost entirely empty in the shop.

The ice cream feels good on Hajime's worn throat, the old familiar flavours settling pleasantly on his tongue.

"I decided." He's not sure why he even brings it up. It won't matter where he decided to go to university, but Oikawa doesn't know that, and his head pops up instantly. He doesn't need to be told what he means, he knows. Oikawa has been waiting for Hajime to make his decision since he made his own over a month ago.

"You did?"

"Yep."

Oikawa shifts in his seat, his ice cream temporarily forgotten.

"What did you decide?" He asks, his voice quiet, nervous.

Hajime has a million different things he could say- I decided that I don't want to be without you. I decided that you'll probably need me. It turns out that I'm destined to be the boy who tries to grab the sun, so I figured I'd try with all I have to keep you.

"Chuo." He says instead.

Oikawa sucks in a breath, a smile erupting across his face, his eyes squeeze around the edges with the width of it. It's so brilliant, so beautiful, it makes Hajime's lightened palm ache to reach out and touch it. An explosion of love for the boy across from him explodes inside of him, but for once, it doesn't make the plant in his chest grow and press and try to get out. It just makes him smile back.

"Iwa-chan! That's great! It's going to be so fun, you'll see! We'll have to make a decision about living arrangements, do you want to live in the dorms? We should at least apply to be in the same building. Or..." He suddenly looks away before looking back, "Or, if it's the two of us, we could see about an apartment together, maybe. Though Tokyo living is expensive, it could be good for us. What do you think?!" Oikawa finally breathes in his speech and Hajime is reeling so much from the whole idea that Oikawa would want him to stay with him, that he almost doesn't recognize the painful warning in his chest.

He jumps out from the table and gets outside, gets a bag open, and throws up. It feels different this time, and he risks a look in the bag and sees full buds and flowers laying in the crimson puddle in the bag. Little daffodils and violets in a pile. It's escalating. Hajime stays crouched against the building, shuddering and crying silently until he calms back down.

"Iwa-chan?" Oikawa places a hand on his back, crouching down behind him and Hajime doesn't turn around, doesn't look, not yet.

"I think I should go home." Hajime says woodenly, reality sinking back in firmly. "But we should talk about the living situation some other time."

"We'll have to decide pretty soon." Oikawa says as he passes over one of the wet wipes from Hajime's backpack and waits while Hajime cleans up and throws out his mess, before he picks up the two half-melted cups of ice cream from where he'd carefully placed them on the ground. "You want this still?"

"Yeah."

They finish their ice cream as they walk to Hajime's house. Hajime's mom greets them as they enter the house and she quirks a hopeful look at Hajime that he just shakes his head at. Oikawa is mid-rant about how excited he is that Hajime will be going to university with him, and she is surprised, but doesn't interrupt or ask anything.

"I'm going to go lay down." Hajime rasps out. "I'll see you tomorrow, Oikawa."

"See you tomorrow, Iwa-chan! Feel better!" Oikawa chirps happily and goes right back to telling Hajime's mom about his plans that have suddenly turned into their plans. Not that Hajime minds.  
Hajime collapses on his futon and passes right out.

"So, Chuo, huh?" His mom says as she sits next to him when she comes to check on him later.

"Sorry, I should have told you that I decided."

"It's fine." She says, cautiously, uncertain what him making a decision about this means.

"It's not." He says, holding up one of the full flowers he'd thrown up not long before she came to check on him. She takes it from him delicately. They both know that full flowers means that he has a matter of days left.

"Did you decide on Chuo for Tooru?"

"I just realized that all the things that I've been freaking out about don't matter in the long run. He's my soulmate, mom."

"I know he is, sweetie."

"I'm going to tell him tomorrow."

She's silent for a long moment. "Are you sure?"

"I need to tell him before I can't. He deserves to know. To at least hear it from me. To know I don't hate him, or blame him, or anything. I love him." It's the first time he's ever said it, and it hits him just how good, how right, it feels to have those words on his tongue. He closes his eyes so he doesn't have to see his mom wiping at her tears. "I'm sorry, mom."

"It's not your fault, kiddo."

"Don't hate him, okay?" He pleads, "You're his second mom. It's not his fault."

"Oh, I know baby," She finally pulls her son into her arms, "It's not any ones fault. We're not going to hate or blame Tooru, of course not." Her voice cracks over the words and he clings tightly to her, not sure how many times he'll be able to do it after this.

"I'm going to go to practice tomorrow, and I'll invite him over afterwards."

"Okay, sweetie. Whatever you need. Your dad and I will both be here. You want to come down now, have some dinner?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Hajime spends the night writing letters and lamenting the fact that he isn't good with words. His letter to Tooru is five pages long, putting all of his feelings out on paper exhausts him in a way that he never has been before. The next day, he puts that letter in his backpack and leaves the rest in a box on his desk, his parents will make sure that everyone gets the one he wrote for them. He puts on a long sleeved under armor shirt, not ready to open that basket of worms quite yet, and he goes to practice.

True to his word, Coach lets him warm up with the others despite the fact that he's already been sick once. "Just one set." He reminds Hajime who walks to his place on the court next to Oikawa with shaking hands.

The set is, as expected, a bit of a disaster.

Hajime has to sprint away from the court to puke in a little bag no less than eight different times throughout the set. It's hard, and it hurts. And Hajime holds himself on the court as long as he can, even as his eyesight is bit blurry and his legs are shaking a little bit. Coach doesn't take him off the court though, and Hajime soaks in every moment, every glimpse of the game around him, Tooru so bright and beautiful, and almost close enough to touch. Hajime spikes every ball that Tooru tosses to him like it's the last one he'll ever hit. The team notices and teases him about the extra power he throws into each spike, but he can't hold anything back, not now, not when it really could be the last one.

By the time the set is over, Hajime is drenched with sweat, he's shaking, and he has to sit down right there on the court. His body hurts, not even just from the times he spent attempting to puke a lung out, but everything hurts, pain and weariness pulling at his muscles and making him feel heavy in a way that he's not sure he ever has.  
Tooru sits down next to him, close enough that their knees bump against each other. The contact sends Hajime into a coughing fit that leaves him light-headed and breathless.

"You okay?" Tooru asks after the coughing fit has died down. Hajime looks into those brown eyes, eyes he knows so well. His best friend, his partner his whole life, the sun in his sky that Hajime revolves around. 

"Come over later, I have something I need to tell you." Hajime finds himself saying and Tooru frowns but nods.

"Okay, Iwa-chan."

"Hey! Nice set considering you seem like you're dying." Makki says with a smile that is only a little bit concerned and Hajime tries his best to kick his friends ankle but he dances back out of the way too quickly.

"Do you need help getting up?" Mattsun asks, his signature lazy smile across his face. Hajime comes close to telling him to fuck off, but then it hits him that actually, yeah, he does need help. He lifts his hands up in a silent request and surprises everyone, but Makki and Mattsun recover quickly from their surprise and they each take a hand, pulling Hajime to his feet. He takes a second to steady himself and then he smiles at his friends and hits them both as hard as he can in their biceps.

"Ow, hey!"

"Thanks." He replies, and tries to walk past them before they can see the way his smile disappears, but he can't stop himself from patting their shoulders almost gently as he goes.

If they stare after him for several long moments, he doesn't turn around, and he doesn't acknowledge the stares he feels following him.

By the time Hajime and Tooru arrive back at Hajime's house, his resolve is firm, even if the rest of him is shaking. He knows what he needs to say, he knows how he wants to say it, he just has to power through this.

They greet his parents, who watch solemnly as Hajime leads Tooru to the backyard, knowing what's about to happen.

Hajime has a great backyard, they used to spend so much time here, playing in the sun and the shade of the large trees that blend the backyard into a copse of trees which blend further into a full forest that they spent most of their childhood running around and exploring in. Hajime sits down on the edge of the deck, his feet in the grass, and Tooru sits right next to him. They're quiet for a long time, Hajime gathering his thoughts and Tooru knows him well enough to let him. They stare at the colours of the sky and the fading sunlight over the trees for a long few minutes.

Tooru gently knocks their shoulders together in a move that he's done probably a few thousand times since they were kids, and it makes Hajime want to cry, and then it makes his lungs seize up and start screaming. When he starts coughing flowers up this time, he doesn't try to go for a bag, he just ends up with a pile of slimy flowers in the grass by his feet. Oikawa gasps, his eyes fixed on the petals at his feet.

"What? Iwa-chan! You have Hanahaki!? That's totally different than just being sick! Why didn't you- Why didn't you tell me?" His voice hits a frantic pitch, his eyes wild and round and scared.

"Tooru." Hajime says and Oikawa stops, the sound of his first name foreign in the air between them. Oikawa lets out a desperate sound, reaching for Hajime's arms.

"We can fix this, who is it? We can, we can-"

"Tooru, hey, calm down." Hajime says, pulling him up so they can go just far enough from the pile of flowers so that it's not gross or distracting. He starts coughing again almost immediately, his body, his heart knowing what's coming.

"Why haven't you had the surgery?" Tooru demands, still sounding panicked.

"Hey, calm down for a second." Hajime demands, taking Tooru's hand in his to ground them both. "I have to tell you something first." It's hard to talk like this, with the flowers pressing at his lungs, trying to force their way out along with his heart. He chokes a little, trying to talk and not being able to at the same time. He digs in his pocket and pushes the letter at Tooru.

"This is-"

"No!" Tooru screeches, nearly hysterical, refusing to take the envelope until Hajime presses it against his chest and lets go, forcing Tooru to have to catch it.

"Hey, I have time, calm down." Hajime says it forcefully, and he manages to sound more convincing than he feels with the weight pressing at his chest. They both force themselves to take several deep breaths.

"You... You have time?" Tooru sounds so scared, so unsure and Hajime hates that he's the reason.

"Yeah, I do."

"Okay." He takes a deep breath but doesn't let go of Hajime's hand, his other hand gripping on the letter so tight that it wrinkles between his fingers. "Okay, what did you want to tell me?"

"They can't operate on it because it's for my soulmate." Hajime says, even though it's probably not the right place to start.

Tooru's face crumples, devastation and fear clear in every line on that pretty face. "Who?"

"You want to see?" Hajime asks, swallowing thickly on more flowers, he can taste them at the back of his throat, and he pushes them back, desperate just to get through this, just a few more minutes. Tooru nods and Hajime shrugs out of his jacket, he shows Tooru the top of his arm first- the metal looking plates of armor, scratched and dented, but strong. Then he turns to show Tooru the underside of his mark- bright coloured butterflies in front of a backdrop of a galaxy through stars, his palm dyed the white yellow of the sun bleeding over his wrist to the rest of his mark.

"It's beautiful." Tooru says, then makes a face like the words taste bad, like he shouldn't be admiring the thing that is killing Hajime, and he shouldn't be, but Hajime can't help but agree.

"It's for you." He whispers, then his knees give out and he hits the ground hard, hand clutching at his chest as he heaves out more flowers.

"Hajime!" Tooru screams. "Iwaizumi-san!" He screams for Hajime's parents to come, starts to pull away to go get them, but Hajime isn't done yet. He tightens his grip on Tooru, barely able to see straight, pulls Tooru down so he can meet his eyes, he's definitely not able to breathe anymore but refusing to lose his grip on Tooru.

"Tooru, I'm sorry."

"Hajime!" Tooru cries desperately, tears streaking down his face. 

Just a little more, Hajime promises himself, Hit it until it breaks, he tells himself as he opens his mouth again, just this, just this last thing, he needs to say it, he needs Tooru to know. 

"I love you."

The last thing he hears is Tooru screaming for him.

Sorry. He thinks, reaching his hand up for Tooru's face, the lightened part of his hand in contrast with the darkening of his vision, making it truly look as he reaches for Tooru's face, that he's reaching for the sun.

.

.

.

.

The first thing Hajime is aware of is that his body feels light, he feels the way his lungs expand fully and easily for the first time in weeks. The rest of his body feels heavy though, and there's something cutting into his nose and annoying him. He opens his eyes only for long enough to think that it's bright. It takes him a few tries to get his eyes to stay open, there's a heart monitor somewhere, and a weird sound from something else. It takes way too much effort for him to tilt his head to look around the small hospital room, but finally, his eyes fall on the form of a long body scrunched into a visitors chair as best as he can. Oikawa is holding Hajime's hand, his head tipped back in a way that is definitely going to hurt his neck in the morning. His mouth is open and he's drooling a little. Damn, Hajime loves him. The thought makes Hajime flinch out of reflex, expecting pain that never comes. His breathing is still even and full. It's not something he thought he'd feel again and he has to huff out a little laugh, his left hand coming up to touch his face and feel the tube in his nose.

"Iwa-chan?"

Oikawa is looking at him intently, blinking away sleep and tightening his grip on Hajime's fingers.

"To-" Hajime's voice breaks on the word, he coughs a little on his dry and worn throat. Instantly, Tooru is at his side, putting a plastic cup against his lips so he can take little sips of the water. When he feels better he pulls his head away and Tooru takes the cup and puts it back on a little table off to the side. He's sitting on the edge of the bed with Hajime now and Hajime can't take his eyes off of him.

His hair is sticking up in ways Hajime didn't know his hair even could go, a crease in his forehead, his eyes are red behind his glasses, his lips have bite marks in them. Hajime can't help but bring his hand up to cup his cheek. He's been waiting his whole life, since he was seven years old, and learned that you can't touch the most beautiful things without bringing them down. All this time, he was waiting for this, for the way that the smooth skin of Tooru's cheek feels against his palm.

"You're beautiful." Hajime tells him, and then brushes away the tears that fall down his cheek.

"You complete dumbass!" Tooru cries, falling forward to wrap his arms around Hajime. "You scared me so bad, you asshole!" Tooru devolves into sobs in Hajime's arms, and Hajime just holds him gently as he cries himself out.  
As he's lying there, staring at the hospital ceiling it finally occurs to him what this means.

"Whoa." 

"What?" Tooru asks, pulling back, his hands flitting over Hajime's chest and face as if checking him for any damage.

Hajime shakes his head, "I just realized." When Tooru frowns in confusion at him he smiles a little, reaching for Tooru again. "You love me?"

Tooru's face manages to look completely affronted, even as heat ignites under Hajime's fingers. "Yes, you asshole! Of course I do! I didn't realize it until you were choking and turning blue in front of me, but of course I do. How could I not?"

Hajime's face breaks into the widest smile he's maybe ever had. He pulls Tooru down lightly so he can press a kiss to those pouting lips. When he pulls back he gets the pleasure of seeing Tooru's face redder than he's ever seen it and he leans up to put a tiny kiss on Tooru's nose just to listen to him whine lightly.

"Oh good." A voice sounds from the doorway. "You're awake." Dr. Sugawara calls from the doorway, looking immensely pleased.

"Hi."

"Sorry, I'll-"

"It's fine, you can stay there, Oikawa-kun." Dr. Sugawara reassures him as he comes to Hajime's other side checking over the different monitors, and pressing the stethoscope to his chest to listen to his heart and lungs.

"You were unconscious for a little over a full day, but it seems that your body has finally worked through all of the poison that had been building up in your chest. You left it a little late there, Iwaizumi-kun."

"You said I had three more days." Hajime shoots back, but with a smile so the doctor will know that there's no hard feelings.

"Yes, well, it looks like your feelings were strong enough that they accelerated the process." It's Hajime's turn to blush as Tooru turns to look at him in wonder. "You're lucky that Oikawa-kun and your parents were able to get you to the hospital as quickly as they did. Even after Oikawa returned your feelings, there was still such a large build up of poison in your system that we almost lost you." Dr. Sugawara informs them, but not unkindly. They both swallow hard at the thought of it. "Anyway, we'll get you wheeled down to x-rays in the next couple hours, and as long as everything is out of you system, you should be good to go home by this evening. Even when you're released, make sure you get lots of rest for the next few days, your heart and your body has been through a lot. But you'll be good as new before you know it!" The doctor says cheerfully and then he leaves.

"He's... weirdly refreshing, isn't he?"

Hajime threw his head back and laughed and laughed, this small humor pushing him over the edge as the reality hit him. He was alive. And more than that. He was loved. By Oikawa. By the sun.

After a while, Tooru stopped trying to figure out what was so funny and merely scooted himself fully on the bed so he was wedged in beside Hajime.

"Who are you texting?" Hajime asks when he stops laughing.

"Your parents, once the doctors said you would be okay they left to get changes of clothes for us, and some sleep for themselves. You really worried them too."

"I know." Hajime said regretfully, and pulled Tooru in closer to press a kiss to his temple.

"They said they'll be by in an hour or so."

"That's good. Tell them I said hey." Hajime closed his eyes again.

"No, open your eyes, I'm sending them a picture so they know you're okay."

Hajime peeled his eyes open, not sure when he had closed them. He gave a tired smile at the phone Tooru was holding over them.

"Oh, that's a truly terrible picture. We look like a hot mess." Tooru lamented and showed Hajime who had to agree, he gave a snort of laughter.

"I like it." He declared as he ruffled Tooru's hair even further but only got a weak protest as Tooru turned back to his phone.

"I'm sending it to everyone we know."

"I think I'm going to fall back asleep." Hajime reported back.

"Do you need anything first?" Tooru asked, more quietly than before.

"Some more water would be nice." Tooru was happy to oblige, but refused to move from his newly claimed spot in the bed which was more than fine with Hajime.

He was drifting off slowly to the feeling of Tooru running his fingers down the lines of the soul mark.

"Someday you'll have to tell me what all of this means." Tooru requested but he was too close to sleep to respond as the world faded around him.

Living without having an ending date on your life was a weird thing. The sun seemed warmer all of the sudden, but maybe that was just the warmth of where Tooru is pressed up against his side on the hospital bed.

"You've got a stupid look on your face," Tooru informs him bluntly as he rummages in the bag that Hajime's parents brought them, "What are you thinking about?"

"It's just hitting me. I thought I'd be dead by now." Hajime can't look Tooru in the eyes. Tooru sets down the bag and turns to him, lifting his chin so that their eyes can meet.

"I'm sorry," Tooru whispers, "I should have realized sooner, I should have-"

"It's not your fault."

"I know you believe that. You wrote it so many times in that letter of yours." Hajime feels his cheeks go red. "Did you know before you got your soul mark that you loved me?"

"Yeah."

"How long?"

"I don't know," Hajime answers, and it's the truth, "I realized it a few months ago, and when I realized it, I just... It wasn't some big revelation, I think I sort of always felt that way."

"Hmm." Tooru leans fully against his chest until their noses press together. "That was the same for me you know."

"Was it?" Hajime said as he took the weight of Tooru easily in his arms.

"Mmhmm. I thought- oh god, I love him. I've loved him my whole life."

"You're whole life, huh?"

"Mmhmm." Tooru mumbled as he leaned in and put their lips together in a soft kiss that had Hajime all but melting. "Now, go get changed so we can go home." Hajime changes quickly and they collect themselves to go meet with their parents who are pulling the car around.

While they're at the desk signing Hajime's paperwork so they can go home, they get a pair of unexpected visitors.

"Oh good! You're still here!" A voice called from the doorway and they turned to find a surprising face.

"Refreshing-kun? And the reliable captain?" The former captain and vice captain stood in the doorway with large smiles.

"The grand king and his loyal knight, right?" Sugawara returned with the same thinly veiled tone that Tooru used, they shared identical smiles.

"Hey there." Sawamura says, like a normal person.

"Ah, hey." Hajime returns the greeting lightly, "Sawamura and Sugawara, right? What brings you guys by?"

"Ah, well..." they look embarrassed for a moment, the Suga speaks up. "I overheard when you called my dad a while ago, then I bugged him until he told me all about it. We thought we'd stop by and see how you were doing. I wanted to buy you a plant for your get-well gift, but under the circumstances, I figured that that may not be appropriate, so here." Suga hands out a little gift basket that seems to hold several different forms of fruit.

It was a sweet gesture and Hajime smiled, taking the gift in hand. "Thank you guys." Tooru was still standing still, eyes narrowed as he tried to unpack all of that, but the duo from Karasuno didn't seem bothered.

"How are you doing now?" Sawamura asks.

"Much better, still pretty tired and worn out, but should be good as new soon."

"That's really good to hear."

"Ah!" Tooru suddenly says, "The refreshing doctor is your dad! That makes so much sense!" Hajime can't help but burst into a round of chuckles, "That's why you were laughing at me! Iwa-chan!" Hajime laughs again and loops his arm around his soulmate's waist and pulls him in until they're pressed up against each other along their hips.

"I'm glad you worked everything out." Suga says decisively, and they all exchange a smile.

"Hey, where are you guys going to Uni?" Sawamura asks suddenly, "I want to know if I'll be facing you on the court again soon."

"Ah, we're going to Chuo."

Sawamura is suddenly smiling, "Good! Because I'm going to Tokyo U, our schools are rivals so I'm sure we'll see each other on the court soon."

"Oh," Tooru starts, his face lighting up at the challenge, his whole posture shifting to that weirdly intimidating smirk, "Well, it'll be our pleasure to crush you next time."

"In your dreams, Oikawa." Suga throws back easily. 

Hajime smiles easily but feels the tiredness creeping in, so he squeezes his grip on Tooru's waist before he can get carried. "Thank you guys for coming by, but we should really be getting home." Tooru is instantly taking the fruit basket from Hajime and situating himself under Hajime's arm to support him, even though Hajime doesn't really need it, he still leans into the contact and lets Tooru take some of his weight anyway.

"Yeah, of course. We're glad you guys are doing well."

"And Congratulations!" Suga adds with a grin, that they can't help but shoot back.

"Thanks, Refreshing-kun. We'll see you guys around." Tooru calls, and then they're parting ways.  
Hajime can barely believe that this is his life now as he shifts his weight to rest a little in the solid presence of his soulmate at his side.

A few weeks later, they're sitting on Tooru's bed, staring at the clock on the wall as it counts down. They wait up together until midnight on Tooru's birthday, counting down the minutes, Tooru's vibrating with excitement, and Hajime will never under any condition admit to how nervous he is. Tooru is bubbling with energy, he's been wondering about his soul mark ever since he knew that Hajime was his soulmate. Tooru keeps saying that their marks will match, and he's more than a little bit excited to see the equal of that beautiful mark on his own skin. Hajime shouldn't have any reason to be nervous, it's a rare thing that a person would be soul mates with someone who is not soul mates with them, but it does happen. Still, he promised that he would stay with Tooru while the mark came in, so he's sitting nervously in Tooru's room. There's a card game abandoned on the floor in between them that Tooru abandoned as the minutes started counting down.

11:58

"I'm nervous." Tooru admits and Hajime laces their hands together. 

"It'll be great." He promises. He doesn't say, They'll match, we'll be fine no matter what, he doesn't make promises he can't keep, but he does say, "I love you."

Tooru finally takes his eyes off his own arms and looks up into Hajime's eyes, his gaze going soft and tender as they stare at each other. "I love you too." 

The words are lost as bright light erupts from Tooru's chest and race down his arm, flashing as the lines are formed across his skin. Tooru gasps and gapes at the display, too stunned for anything else, staring at the lines, and Hajime can't take his eyes off of Tooru's face.

When the light show is done Hajime finally looks down. It's a match, Hajime notes with no small amount of relief. There are gold lines forming plates of armour along his arm, and the front of his forearm, in the same meandering path that the galaxy is spread over Hajime's arm, there instead is a row of different kinds of flowers floating along a mountain stream that is so beautifully rendered that for a second, Hajime almost thinks he can hear the water flow over the rocks. The flowers are ones that Hajime recognizes from a few weeks ago and he shakes his head ruefully at that. The most surprising part is that Tooru's palm matches perfectly to Hajime's- the skin dyed the colour of the sun. Hajime finally looks back to Tooru's face that's still lit up with wonder and links their hands together. Tooru's soul mark is on his left arm, where as Hajime's is on his right, so that they can fit their marks together perfectly.

"Hey there, soulmate." Hajime says quietly and Tooru finally brings his gaze back up to Hajime's with a brilliant smile.

"Hi." Tooru breathes in wonder.

"I love you."

Tears slip down Tooru's cheeks, but his face lights up with the most beautiful smile.

"I love you too, Hajime."

Turns out Tooru was right all those weeks ago when they were waiting for Hajime's soul mark- this was the first step to his forever. Hajime has never been so grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> Meanings of Flowers mentioned in this fic:
> 
> Pink Camellias- Longing For You  
> Daffodil- Unequalled Love  
> Violet- Loyalty, devotion, faithfulness
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hope you guys enjoyed it!


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